From Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily
Les [Moonves] confirmed that, to cut costs, CBS is producing 6 fewer pilot this year compared with 2008. And he says the network only has room for 3 or 4 new shows in its schedule next season.
If CBS only has room for 3 or 4 new shows in its schedule next season, which shows are getting canceled?
The numbers say The Unit, plus two or three of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried and Worst Week, and perhaps Cold Case.
Something to think about for those who thought CBS would be canceling lots more shows in its existing, pretty well performing, line up.
so will rules make a fall debut, or will the post Men slot be a launching pad again?
I still don’t see Cold Case getting the boot.
I really like cold case, I hope it stays!!!
The spaces will open up for two or three dramas.
Likely to go:
The Unit
Worst Week
Gary Unmarried
Might Go:
Eleventh Hour
Old Christine
Cold Case will at least run one more season.
The numbers might be a bit worse for cold case, but I would think that without a trace might go before it simply because without a trace is really declining in quality and the numbers are about equal.
If the choice comes down to Cold Case vs Without a Trace, it’ll probably be Without a Trace that gets canceled. Cold Case is a CBS production, so any syndication/DVD sales go to them, rather than Warners.
Edit: Or is IMDb lying to me? They may both be Warners, in which case Without a Trace wins.
I figured 4-5 shows, so I was more or less on track.
The question is are they figuring 2 comedies and 2 dramas, or 1 comedy and 3 dramas.
A lot of that hinges on whether they want to keep the Wednesday comedy block. If they kill it, they don’t even really have room for one new comedy without canceling Week, Gary, Christine and Rules. If they want to keep it, they could do like they did this year, using one established comedy and one new on Wednesday and introducing one new on Monday. Of course, with the comedies they have, they could have a Wednesday block and still only introduce one new comedy (on either day).
If they go with the latter option, that means three dramas still need to go.
Julia, Futon Critic has both listed as CBS Paramount, Bruckheimer, and Warner Brothers.
I think
The Unit, Gary Unmarried and Worst Week are gone next fall and Flashpoint will comeback at mid-season. That gives 4 new shows to fill up CBS’s fall 2009 schedule.
Cold Case and Without a Trace are doing very great overseas, maybe it will save them this season ?
I love Old Christine! Julia is hilarious in it. If it goes i’ll be sad
but it looks like it’s gonna stay, so yay!
Is the NCIS spin-off included as part of the 4-5 new shows for next season? If so then CBS only has limited choices when it comes to picking new dramas.
If it comes down to Cold Case versus WAT, I expect Cold Case to go as its numbers seem to be on the decline more than WAT? However, I would not be surprised to see WAT cancelled, and Cold Case moved to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST. That time slot will be make-or-break for Cold Case.
I do wonder if CBS will keep WAT, which holds the best Tuesday-at-10 ratings they’ve seen in a long time – due to the Leno experiment. Perhaps they want to keep an established series up against Leno for a while, to really build dominance before experimenting with “new” stuff?
Then again, WAT and CC could both go, and the next NCIS incarnation/spinoff could launch on Tuesdays.
Jon, it’s not entirely clear what the specifics on Moonves’ quote were.
Both cold case and without a trace are in the Top 20 for the season to date shows. Without a Trace is #16 and cold case is #19. both shows will be renewed
tom, it’s all relative. CBS has to choose from shows in *its* line up to cancel, so the position of its shows only matter in relationship to its *other* shows. On those terms, CC is just outside the safe zone, and WAT is just inside the safe zone. It would not surprise me if both were back or if CC was cancelled. After that Moonves quote it would *really* surprise me if both were cancelled.
I really don’t think CBS will dump Cold Case or Without a Trace this season, they might as well keep the duo for next year, since they may still need Case to anchor Sundays at 9 and Trace to hold up Tuesdays at 10.
Whoever predicted
Likely to go: The Unit, Worst Week, Gary Unmarried
Might Go: Eleventh Hour, Old Christine
Thats right on the money. It’s highly likely The Unit, as well as CBS’s freshman comedy duo Worst Week and Gary Unmarried will get the boot. CBS could go either way with Eleventh Hour, but the less than full season renewal and the OK numbers after CSI may make CBS want to try something new. It’s possible Christine could be axed but it still could return.
CBS here’s a thought. If you want to keep your second night of comedy here’s what you should do. If you cancel Gary and Week but return the veteran comedies, it may work out like this
Monday
8:00 The Big Bang Theory
8:30 How I Met Your Mother
9:00 Two and a Half Men
9:30 New Comedy Series
Wednesday
8:00 Old Christine
8:30 Rules of Engagement
That way maybe with two veteran comedies airing wednesday it may not do that badly. Also if CBS keeps their schedule the way it is in terms of dramas, then if they axe The Unit and Eleventh Hour, they will have the 10pm slot on Sundays and Thursdays to fill.
John, Good question. Since he’s talking about lowering their order for pilots, he might mean they will only be ordering 3-4 new shows from those pilots, not including the NCIS spinoff.
Is the NCIS spinoff getting a backdoor pilot? (Lots of those this season!)
What I wonder is if those 3-4 include any mid season replacements.